Serbia Held Responsible For Massacre Of Bosnians

By David Rohde

TUZLA, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA -- Officers from Serbia participated in the attack
on the UN-declared ''safe area'' of Srebrenica, according to credible eyewitness
accounts obtained by the Monitor. And senior Western diplomats and UN officials
say Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic is responsible for the attack and
the subsequent executions of thousands of Muslim civilians.

'Whether by commission or omission,
[Milosevic] is responsible.... He ... either approved of it or did nothing
to stop it.'- Senior UN official
(REUTERS)

Muslim witnesses say that an officer from Serbia was directing the roundup of
Muslim prisoners in the village of Konjevic Polje, and that a Serb officer captured
by Muslim forces was following orders issued from the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

''[The Serb officer] said they were under orders from Belgrade not to allow
any men to escape from Srebrenica,'' says Bosnian soldier Dzemal Malovic.

''All Muslim men were to be captured or killed,'' said Mr. Malovic, one
of three Bosnian soldiers who say they spoke to and looked at identity papers
of the captured Serbian captain.

In a separate interview, a Muslim officer confirmed that the Serbian officer
had been captured. The Serbian officer's whereabouts are unknown, and he may
have been killed later by Muslim forces.

Western diplomats have long suspected that the Bosnian Serb attack on Srebrenica
in mid-July was approved by Belgrade, but the government of President Slobodan
Milosevic has vehemently denied it.

Mr. Milosevic's involvement would be an embarrassment for the Clinton administration,
eager to portray Milosevic - who will be attending peace talks in Ohio next
week - as a peacemaker in the Balkans, not a war criminal.

''Whether by commission or omission, [Milosevic] is responsible, no question,''
says a senior UN military official based in Zagreb, Croatia. ''He had plenty
of sources on the ground there. He had to know what was happening, and either
approved of it or did nothing to stop it.''

A senior Western diplomat in Zagreb also says Milosevic is responsible for
what is quickly emerging as one of the darkest hours of Bosnia's 3-1/2 year
conflict.

''I have no doubt he directly approved or tacitly approved of the taking
of Srebrenica,'' the diplomat says. ''Whether Milosevic knew [about the executions]
or not, he knows what kind of man [Bosnian Serb Army commander Gen. Ratko]
Mladic is and how he operates.''

Reports of mass executions
Over 2,000 Muslim men were executed by Bosnian Serb forces following the fall
of Srebrenica, according to nine survivors interviewed by the Monitor last
month.

War-crimes investigators now have evidence that as many as 3,000 to 4,000
men were executed by the Bosnian Serbs, according to a senior UN official
close to the investigation. ''Wait until everything comes out,'' he says.
''Then, people will understand how big this is.''

The UN official close to the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague
said mass graves ring the area around Srebrenica, and confirmed the existence
of a new set of United States spy photos showing a new group of apparent mass
graves near the village of Karakaj, as reported by the Boston Globe on Oct.3.

The photos confirm the accounts of five men interviewed by the Monitor who
say over 2,000 Muslim prisoners were executed near the town of Karakaj on
July 18. The photos may be the basis for new indictments against General Mladic
expected to be issued by the Tribunal.

(STAFF)

Bosnian Serb officials have said that mass graves in the village of Nova Kasaba
captured in US spy photos and visited by the Monitor in August contain the bodies
of Muslim soldiers who were killed in combat and not executed.

But the Karakaj site is too far from the route that Muslim men would have
followed to escape from Srebrenica, according to the UN official.

Mevludin Oric, a survivor of the Karakaj execution, said in an interview
that one of the officers directing the roundup of prisoners in Konjevic Polje
was a 40- to 45-year-old officer from Serbia. Mr. Oric is considered by war-crimes
investigators to be one of their most credible witnesses. The Serbian officer
was not present at the later execution, Oric added.

Who gave the order to execute thousands of prisoners remains unknown.

But evidence of Milosevic's involvement in Srebrenica has been mounting
for months, and it is not known if Mladic would execute such a large number
of men without at least the tacit approval of Serbian leaders in Belgrade.

Mladic, who eyewitnesses interviewed by the Monitor said was at Karakaj
and three other executions sites during or just before executions began, had
been visiting Belgrade regularly for weeks prior to the attack.

The Washington Post reported seeing Muslim soldiers driving a jeep with
Yugoslav Army license plates on July 17. The Muslims said they had captured
the jeep from forces involved in the attack on Srebrenica.

New York Newsday reported on Aug. 12 that Western intelligence officials
captured radio intercepts of Yugoslav Army chief Gen. Momcilo Perisic, directing
Mladic on how to attack Srebrenica during the offensive.

Serb denials
Yugoslav officials have strenuously denied the accounts, but the Yugoslav
Army and Arkan are believed to be tightly controlled by Milosevic, who holds
an iron grip over Serbia's military.

Despite the growing evidence, Srebrenica survivors remain skeptical that
Milosevic - whom the Clinton administration is depending on to force the Bosnian
Serbs to agree to a peace deal - will be tied to or punished for Europe's
worst massacre since World War II.

''It all depends on the politicians,'' Malovic says. ''They could punish
them, or reward them, for doing this.''